To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the U.S. EPA organized a Twitter chat (#safetodrink) as an open forum for questions and answers on SDWA issues, or whatever else popped up. Here's how it unfolded.

REGULATIONS AND LEGISLATION FEATURES, INSIGHTS, & ANALYSIS

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDC) are a subset of chemicals identified as contaminants of emerging concern, or “CECs.” EDCs are chemicals that can affect the endocrine (hormonal) systems of humans and animals. Hormones regulate reproduction, growth, and behavior. Anything that can potentially disrupt those functions must be studied carefully.

Recently, cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins have become a high profile drinking water quality concern in both the United States and abroad. The combination of weather conditions, agricultural phosphate runoff, and other factors has produced water conditions that have favored the formation of cyanobacteria in surface water supplies.

Breakdown of organic wastes entering a wastewater treatment plant is accomplished by using a biomass or blend of beneficial microscopic organisms, bacteria, and solids. This converts the non-settleable solids (dissolved and colloidal matter) into settleable solids, carbon dioxide, water, and energy.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), which provides for the enhancement of the safety of public drinking water supplies through the establishment and enforcement of nationwide drinking water regulations. Congress gave the primary responsibility for establishing regulations to the U. S. EPA. Until 1990, the EPA administered a certification process for chemicals, including phosphates, to be used for potable water treatment. By Randy C. Turner, Technical Director, Swan Analytical USA

Article: Reducing Perchlorates: A Comparison Of Hypochlorite Options
Switching from gas chlorine to sodium hypochlorite is no panacea. Now, adding to the burden is the proposed U.S. EPA regulation for perchlorate. Considering the factors that lead to excessive perchlorate formation, switching to calcium hypochlorite provides utilities another key advantage. By James P. Brennan, Arch Chemicals, Inc.

The City of Alliance Ohio’s water system has experienced annual Taste and Odor (T&O) events since the mid 1950’s, when the first of two reservoirs, Deer Creek Reservoir, was placed into service. Nutrient contaminants, in particular phosphorous, in the watershed accumulate in the reservoirs causing algal blooms. By Terry Keep of TrojanUV, Said Abou Abdallah of Arcadis, and Dr. Dean Reynolds, Department of Water Treatment City of Alliance, Ohio

Now that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued its rule for cooling water intakes under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act, the race is on for more than 600 power plants and manufacturing facilities to comply. Right now, there is probably no better example in the water industry of how carefully choosing among compliance options can lead to millions of dollars in cost savings.

Selenium limits for mining effluents can be reached using biological treatment and/or adsorption. Veolia’s AnoxKaldnes™ Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) process has a small footprint and can handle high TSS concentrations in feed as well as large hydraulic variations. Our proprietary SeleniumZero® adsorption systems can be used for MBBR effluent polishing or as stand-alone solutions for lower concentration streams.

With the SCADAPack 500E range, Schneider Electric introduces the first ever remote Programmable Automation Controller (rPAC). The ARC Advisory Group has defined the rPAC as a whole new way to look at remote site automation. An rPAC combines the power of a PAC with the versatility of an RTU.

As part of its STAR_select™ solution for water utilities, Aclara Technologies LLC, a leading provider of intelligent infrastructure technologies for water, gas and electric utilities, announces platinum level services for its network and system that make it easier to implement a successful AMI strategy.

The Water Research Foundation should be well known to those interested in the latest solutions to the water/wastewater industry’s most pressing challenges — they’ve been around since 1966 — but in case you don’t know…

Pinnacle Ozone Solutions is proud to present a new video featuring one of our newest Canadian installations in Becancour, Quebec. The video features the City’s Superintendent of Environmental Health, Mr. Michel Carbonneau. As you’ll see in the video, Michel has high remarks for Pinnacle’s modular capability, built in redundancy and ease of installation. Pinnacle’s vision of INVENTING a BETTER ozone generation platform centers around a technology that is flexible, reliable and efficient. This video exemplifies our vision and Pinnacle’s commitment to deliver, service and support our customers. Special thanks to Mr. Michel Carbonneau and The City of Becancour for entrusting Pinnacle Ozone Solutions with their ozone generation needs.

Rob Renner, executive director of the Water Research Foundation (WRF), talks with Water Online about the impacts of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) over the past 40 years and what is on the horizon for the drinking water sector.

Vanessa Leiby, the new executive director for the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association (WWEMA), has a lot on her plate. The following are just some of the initiatives the trade organization representing water and wastewater solution providers is addressing…

MORE REGULATIONS AND LEGISLATION FEATURES

A $92-million expansion completed earlier this year (2012) at the Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant (LPWRP) in Savage, MD, presents a model integration of bellwether aeration, disinfection and enhanced nutrient removal (ENR) systems added in tandem with other infrastructure upgrades, that have significantly improved the plant’s effluent and reduced harmful nutrients from reaching Chesapeake Bay.

In 1974 the Congress of the United States passed Public Law 93-523; the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to protect public health by regulating the nation’s drinking water supply and protecting sources of drinking water. The SDWA first went into effect on June 24, 1977 and has been amended multiple times.

Howard County, Maryland, Bureau of Utilities recently completed the $92-million Addition No. 7 project at the Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant (LPWRP) to improve the quality of the plant’s effluent discharge and to reduce harmful nutrients reaching Chesapeake Bay. The project’s various increments took over five years to complete and incorporated innovative design solutions and state-of-the-art technologies for denitrification, aeration and disinfection. The project presents a model for Maryland’s 66 largest wastewater treatment plants and possibly procurement of municipal facilities elsewhere facing increasingly stringent regulatory changes.

Total organic carbon (TOC) analysis is an important indicator of water quality throughout the drinking water treatment process. Raw source water is progressively treated in chemical coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, and filtration steps to remove particulate matter and natural organic matter (NOM).

Recently, cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins have become a high profile drinking water quality concern in both the United States and abroad. The combination of weather conditions, agricultural phosphate runoff, and other factors has produced water conditions that have favored the formation of cyanobacteria in surface water supplies.

Adam Festger, Market Manager, Drinking Water and Environmental Contaminant Treatment for TrojanUV, highlights some of advances in UV technology over the last few years including UV groundwater treatment, UV chemical contamination treatment and UV lamp efficiency.

Stricter environmental policies and regulations worldwide are changing how industry approaches all aspects of business. Likewise, EU (European Union) environmental policies governing air, soil, and water quality have become progressively stringent. Veolia Water Technologies Company

North Las Vegas Puts Advanced Wastewater Treatment To Work
The North Las Vegas Water Reclamation Facility treats an average of 17 million gallons a day (MGD) of wastewater through an advanced nutrient removal process with subsequent membrane filtration. The utility’s process control enables treatment effluent exceeding typical environmental standards and allows discharge to Lake Meade, where it subsequently is withdrawn and fully treated by other facilities for drinking water distribution.

Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB), Birmingham, Alabama has consistently achieved the rating of the number five water system in the United States for water quality. BWWB’s potable water distribution system (WDS) serves 600,000 people with a daily average use of 100 million gallons (378 million liters) of water, received from nearby lakes and rivers. The system includes 51 water storage tanks, nearly 4,000 miles (6,437 km) of pipe, over 13,000 fire hydrants and over 200,000 service connections.

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDC) are a subset of chemicals identified as contaminants of emerging concern, or “CECs.” EDCs are chemicals that can affect the endocrine (hormonal) systems of humans and animals. Hormones regulate reproduction, growth, and behavior. Anything that can potentially disrupt those functions must be studied carefully.

This radium removal pilot study was conducted for the City of Farmington, Missouri Well No. 17 treatment facility. The Farmington water system contains concentrations of radium and gross alpha in excess of the Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL).